Ice-chute.



R. E. JONES.

ICE OHUTE.

APPLICATION FILED we. a, 1912.

1,1 18,351.. Y Patented Nov. 24, 19M

HIE NORRIS PErzvo Cv.PHOTO-LI1'MO WASNINL VON. D L

RICHARD E. JONES, OF HAGERS'IOWN, MARYLAND.

ICE-GHUTE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 24:,19214L;

Application filed August 6, 1912. Serial No. 713,612.

citizen of the United States, residing at Hagerstown, in the county ofWashington and State of Maryland, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Ice-Chutes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a novel construction of ice chute, the object being toprovide a strong and durable chute by means of which blocks or cakes ofice can be lntroduced one at a time into theqstorage compartment and acomplete and accurate register or record maintained of the number ofcakes or blocks passed through the chute into the storage compartment. yj a Another object of the invention isto provide a chute of suchconstruction that it is to be practically air-tight when not inoperation, and also of such construction as to permit the smallestpossible amount of air to enter with the cake of ice.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chute of suchconstruction that the cake of ice will not be damaged or injured inpassing through the chute and operating the register, and astill furtherobject is to provide means to prevent more than one cake passing throughat one time thereby enabling an accurate record to be kept inasmuch aseach individual cake in passing througl'i the chute effects its ownrecording.

WVith these. various object in view my invention consists of the novelfeatures of construction, combination, and arrangement, all of whichwill be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification: Figure 1 is avertical sectional view taken through the chute, the door being slightlylifted by the cake of ice, shown in dotted lines as entering the chute.Fig. 2 is a front view of the chute showing the registering devicediagrammatically. Figs. 3, 4. and 5 show details of construction.

In carrying out my invention I employ a sheet metal chute A, which isconstructed to fit into an opening produced in the wall, the bottom A ofthis chute being inclined as shown, and in advance of this inclinedbottom A and in line therewith is the trackway A, which serves to guidethe cake or block of ice into the chute, this track-way comprisingpreferably two side bars A and two intermediate bars A spaced apart bymeans of sleeves B, arranged upon bolts B" connecting the said bars andpassing through the bars and sleeves. Brace bars B" extend from theouter ends of the side bars A to the front of the case for the purposeof supporting the forward end of the track-way.

A door G is arranged within the chute for the purpose of closing thesame against the entrance of air, said door being pivoted at its upperend by means of a rod 1), pivoted in the side walls of the casing sothat the door can swing upwardly to permit the passage of a cake of icethrough the chute into the storage chamber or compartment. This door isconstructed of metal, made hollow 1 and packed with any suitable heat1nsulating material as shown at C. It willalso be noted that the door isin the form of a compound curve and whenclosed rests upon supportingbrackets E formed of angle iron and curved to correspond exactly withthe curve of the door, and these brackets extend from the upper frontportion of the chute to the lower rear portion as indicated and upon thesides adapted to contact with the edges of the door are rovided withpacking strips E, so that when the door is closed a per- 't'ectly tightjoint is provided between the door and the supporting brackets.

At the rear end of the door is a packing strip F the free end of whichis weighted by placing a rod therein, said packing strip being adaptedto contact with the solid bottom of the chute and prevent the entranceof air at this point. By having the door curved as shown the cake of icecontacting therewith as it enters the chute will quickly and easilyraise said door and in order to assist in this operationIprovide saiddoor with an extension C to which is attached a counterweight C*, sothat the ice has very little work to do in lifting the door, and consequently no damage will be done to the cake or block of ice in liftingthe same.

A rocker arm G is pivoted at Gr beneath the bottom of the chute, saidrocker arm having an upwardly extending foot piece G at its rear endwhich normally extends upwardly through the opening in the bottom of thecasing, said opening being a short distance in advance of the lower endof the door when closed, and inasmuch as the forward or outwardlyprojecting arm of the rocker is longer than the inner or rear one thenormal position of the rocker arm will be such that the rear foot piecewill project upwardly through the bottom of the chute and will be in thepath of travel of the cake.

first one has cleared the rear foot piece.

H, indicates a mechanical register or recorder operated by a verticallymovable rod H actuated by a lever H connected to the rocker arm so thateach movement of the rocker arm will cause the register or recorder toregister or record one more number, and in addition to the mechanicalregister or recorder I prefer to have an electrical register or recorderI, which is preferably located in the office and connected with thecircuit 1 in which is arranged a connector 1 which is actuated by an arm1 connecting the switch with the rod H so that on each reciprocation ofthe rod caused by the passage of a cake of ice through the chute thecircuit will be opened and closed and the register in the officeoperated.

The finger K which actuates the mechanical register is held between twosprings K so as to equalize the forces to prevent any sudden upward ordownward movement being communicated to the register.

It will thus be seen that I provide a chute which will normally preventthe entrance of air to the ice chamber or compartments and it will alsobe noted that this chute is of Copies of this patent may be obtained forsuch construction that the ice in passing therethrough will not bedamaged or in-- jured, and furthermore each cake of ice as it passesthrough the chute will be registered or recorded both mechanically andelectrically and provision is made for preventing more than one cake ofice passing through the chute at one and the same time and without beingregistered.

What I claim is 1. In an ice chute, the combination with a casing of adoor pivoted therein, said door having a concave surface, the curve ofsaid concave surface commencing at the point of pivoting of the door,the horizontal component of the curve exceeding the vertical componentthereof from adjacent the pivot for substantially the upper half of theconcave, but this proportion gradually diminishing to a point beyond themiddle of the door.

2. In an ice chute, the combination with a casing of a door pivotedtherein, said door having a concave surface, the curve of said concavesurface commencing atthe point of pivoting of the door, the horizontalcomponent of the curve exceeding the vertical component thereof fromadjacent the pivot for substantially theupper half of the concave, butthis proportion gradually dimin ishing to a point beyond the middle ofthe door, and at this point merging into a re verse or convex curvetoward the lower end of the door.

RICHARD E. JONES. Witnesses SAMUEL K. LowuAN, CALVIN A. LUM.

five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

